Publications

July 2022
Article

Private Equity and COVID-19

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey more than 200 private equity (PE) managers from firms with $1.9 trillion of assets under management (AUM) about their portfolio performance, decisionmaking and activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Given that PE managers have significant incentives to... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Private Equity; Management; Investment Portfolio; Performance; Decision Making; Value Creation

Find at Harvard

January 2022
Article

Artificial Intelligence, Data-Driven Learning, and the Decentralized Structure of Platform Ecosystems

By: David R. Clough and Andy Wu

Gregory, Henfridsson, Kaganer, and Kyriakou (2020) highlight the important role of data and AI as strategic resources that platforms may use to enhance user value. However, their article overlooks a significant conceptual distinction: the installed base of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Data Strategy; Ecosystem; Value Capture; Digital Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; Strategy; Learning; Value Creation; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Advertising Industry

March 2012
Article

The Incentive Bubble

By: Mihir Desai

The past three decades have seen American capitalism quietly transformed by a single, powerful idea—that financial markets are a suitable tool for measuring performance and structuring compensation. Stock instruments for managers, high-powered incentive contracts for... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Financial Markets; Executive Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Governance; Equality and Inequality; Human Capital; United States

Read Now

14 Jan 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Smart Money: The Effect of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Financial Literacy on Financial Market Participation

Keywords: by Shawn Cole & Gauri Kartini Shastry; Education; Financial Services

01 Sep 2023
News

In My Humble Opinion: Futures Investor

In the half-century since his graduation, Theodore Roosevelt IV (MBA 1972) has earned widespread respect as both a forward-thinking investment banker and an influential activist through his efforts to address climate change and preserve public lands. For much of that... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; climate change; investment banking; leadership; carbon tax

Web

HBS - Key Metrics

22 28 33 40 46 Unrestricted Reserves 247 227 211 174 129 Endowment 5,132 5,086 5,265 4,092 3,985 Total Assets $6,639 $6,603 $6,755 $5,558 $5,420 MBA 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Incoming Class Applications 8,149 8,264 9,773 9,304 9,228... View Details

18 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Your Best Employees Are Burning Out: A Framework for Retaining Talent

business leaders need to step up their game to attract and retain the top talent they need to remain competitive, productive, and cohesive to get through this tumultuous period. "Leaders must realize that their workers are their greatest View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and MaShon Wilson

February 2021
Supplement

HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (C)

By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh

July 2017 was supposed to be a triumphant month for HNA Group. The latest Fortune Global 500 list showed the company had again skyrocketed in its ranking to no. 170, an improvement of over 200 positions from the year prior. Yet earlier that same July, the mysterious... View Details

Keywords: Conglomerate; Airline Industry; Coronavirus; Financial Risk; Debt; Bankruptcy; Global Strategy; Restructuring; Health Pandemics; Financial Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Condition; Globalized Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Air Transportation Industry; Financial Services Industry; China

01 Oct 2023
Blog Post

Myth Busting: Financial Aid for 2+2 Students

aid application after they have been admitted to the MBA program. MYTH #2: HBS Only Considers Your Current Income When Awarding Financial Aid When determining eligibility for our need-based scholarships, the financial aid office looks at your income and View Details

29 Mar 2022
Book

5 Qualities That Help Companies Thrive for Decades—Even Centuries

“In India, you often encounter a really strong set of value-driven businesses. And it’s an interesting question why.” Reputation is an especially strong attribute of long-haul companies, adds Khanna. “I really think of it as an asset that... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Cementos Argos in the U.S.: Go Big or Go Home?

By: Jorge Tamayo, Ruth Costas, Pedro Levindo and Karina Souza

In April 2011, Colombian group Cementos Argos had to decide on whether to double down its business in the U.S., amidst the U.S. cement industry’s lowest performance in 30 years. Argos— Colombia’s leading cement producer and one of the “jewels” of Grupo GEA, the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Business Subsidiaries; Talent and Talent Management; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Latin America; South America; North and Central America; United States; Colombia

December 2018
Case

The Nature Conservancy in 2018

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a U.S.-based environmental NGO with $7 billion in assets and a presence in 72 countries in 2018. TNC originated in 1951 as a land trust, acquiring land in order to conserve it. Over the last 20 years, it developed a pragmatic... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2018
Case

Ak Gıda: IPO or Strategic Sale

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In 2015, Yıldiz Holding, one of the world’s largest producer of confections, biscuits and crackers, was at the end of its divestiture process from Ak Gida, one of the leading dairy companies in Turkey. The company had adopted a dual track process, pursuing an initial... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Growth and Development Strategy; Value Creation; Decision Making; Growth Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Initial Public Offering; Business Conglomerates; Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Joint Ventures; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

Working Paper

Covenant-Light Contracts and Creditor Coordination

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

In 2015, 70% of newly issued leveraged loans had weaker enforcement features, called covenant-light or "cov-lite"; this is nearly a three-time increase in cov-lite issuance compared to a previous peak in 2007. We evaluate whether this development can be attributed to... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cycles; Loan Contracts; Debt Covenants; Contracts; Financing and Loans; Credit; Borrowing and Debt